Professor Kyle Harper

come from they they tend to perceive disease through different lenses often at the same time religiously so pestilence is sent by the gods usually by the god Apollo and he's mad because the Romans aren't

come from they they tend to perceive disease through different lenses often at the same time religiously so pestilence is sent by the gods usually by the god Apollo and he's mad because the Romans aren't

showing sufficient respect they aren't keeping the peace with the gods maybe it's Christians that are upsetting the gods we can throw a few of them to the lions and see if that will stop the plague they also think of it in terms of I mentioned miasma, this idea that the air can be corrupted and the pollution can sort of spread through the air.

showing sufficient respect they aren't keeping the peace with the gods maybe it's Christians that are upsetting the gods we can throw a few of them to the lions and see if that will stop the plague they also think of it in terms of I mentioned miasma, this idea that the air can be corrupted and the pollution can sort of spread through the air.

showing sufficient respect they aren't keeping the peace with the gods maybe it's Christians that are upsetting the gods we can throw a few of them to the lions and see if that will stop the plague they also think of it in terms of I mentioned miasma, this idea that the air can be corrupted and the pollution can sort of spread through the air.

They don't have our sense of germ theory, but we do have contemporary and later sources that reflect that. different beliefs about where this plague comes from. And clearly, one of the hypotheses that gets thrown around in the Roman world is that it comes back from Parthia with the armies of Ovidius Cassius and Lucius Verus were coming back from the east. In my view, look at COVID.

They don't have our sense of germ theory, but we do have contemporary and later sources that reflect that. different beliefs about where this plague comes from. And clearly, one of the hypotheses that gets thrown around in the Roman world is that it comes back from Parthia with the armies of Ovidius Cassius and Lucius Verus were coming back from the east. In my view, look at COVID.

They don't have our sense of germ theory, but we do have contemporary and later sources that reflect that. different beliefs about where this plague comes from. And clearly, one of the hypotheses that gets thrown around in the Roman world is that it comes back from Parthia with the armies of Ovidius Cassius and Lucius Verus were coming back from the east. In my view, look at COVID.

We have millions of brilliant scientists, and there's still honest disagreement about the origins of the virus. In the ancient world, we have only a handful of sources. Many of them are indirect or come from later versions of the story in a world where they don't understand infectious disease. So it's very hard to actually piece together.

We have millions of brilliant scientists, and there's still honest disagreement about the origins of the virus. In the ancient world, we have only a handful of sources. Many of them are indirect or come from later versions of the story in a world where they don't understand infectious disease. So it's very hard to actually piece together.

We have millions of brilliant scientists, and there's still honest disagreement about the origins of the virus. In the ancient world, we have only a handful of sources. Many of them are indirect or come from later versions of the story in a world where they don't understand infectious disease. So it's very hard to actually piece together.

And it's made more difficult by the fact that we don't know what the pathogen was. It's super frustrating for me, for a lot of us who work on this period. We want to know what caused this pestilence. And trust me, we're looking like

And it's made more difficult by the fact that we don't know what the pathogen was. It's super frustrating for me, for a lot of us who work on this period. We want to know what caused this pestilence. And trust me, we're looking like

And it's made more difficult by the fact that we don't know what the pathogen was. It's super frustrating for me, for a lot of us who work on this period. We want to know what caused this pestilence. And trust me, we're looking like

the we collectively including myself like we're trying to find bones if you have a mass grave if you're listening to this and you have a bunch of skeletons from the second century call me people have looked we've looked and we may find out we may get a hit in the lab but there's not a huge number of really obvious second century mass graves that's part of the problem so there's not a ton to work with and it may be a path that it takes a lot of luck to get

the we collectively including myself like we're trying to find bones if you have a mass grave if you're listening to this and you have a bunch of skeletons from the second century call me people have looked we've looked and we may find out we may get a hit in the lab but there's not a huge number of really obvious second century mass graves that's part of the problem so there's not a ton to work with and it may be a path that it takes a lot of luck to get

the we collectively including myself like we're trying to find bones if you have a mass grave if you're listening to this and you have a bunch of skeletons from the second century call me people have looked we've looked and we may find out we may get a hit in the lab but there's not a huge number of really obvious second century mass graves that's part of the problem so there's not a ton to work with and it may be a path that it takes a lot of luck to get

the DNA of pathogens. It has to be present in the blood in high concentration when the person dies. Their body has to be preserved in a burial environment where the DNA doesn't degrade too much. And it has to be a pathogen whose DNA you can get. So if it's a single-stranded RNA virus, there's a very good chance we'll never get it. So without knowing what disease it was, you can't say

the DNA of pathogens. It has to be present in the blood in high concentration when the person dies. Their body has to be preserved in a burial environment where the DNA doesn't degrade too much. And it has to be a pathogen whose DNA you can get. So if it's a single-stranded RNA virus, there's a very good chance we'll never get it. So without knowing what disease it was, you can't say

the DNA of pathogens. It has to be present in the blood in high concentration when the person dies. Their body has to be preserved in a burial environment where the DNA doesn't degrade too much. And it has to be a pathogen whose DNA you can get. So if it's a single-stranded RNA virus, there's a very good chance we'll never get it. So without knowing what disease it was, you can't say